Use these printable activities alongside a calm conversation with a child who is coping with a parent’s alcohol or drug addiction. The pages are designed for trusted adults, foster carers, kinship carers, social workers, counsellors and family support workers who want child-friendly prompts for explaining addiction, naming feelings and building resilience without overwhelming young children.
Children get simple, reassuring language for a difficult grown-up problem, helping reduce blame, shame and loneliness. Karli explains addiction as a sickness that may make adults feel they need drugs or alcohol to feel okay, while making clear that children are not alone and that adults may need special help to get better.
The activity book includes a welcome for caring adults, a short explanation of resilience and a practical “LOVEE” approach: Listen, Observe, Validate, Educate and Empower. These prompts are useful for direct work, family sessions, school pastoral support, children’s counselling, recovery services and home conversations with younger kids affected by parental substance misuse.
Child-facing pages include “Nice to Meet You” fill-in prompts, colouring activities, “I’m Important” self-care ideas, and a “Let’s Talk” question game featuring Elmo and Karli. There are also feeling faces for excited, confident, surprised, embarrassed, hopeful, anxious, overwhelmed, sad and angry, giving children a safe way to practise emotional vocabulary.
A clear 7 Cs page reinforces key messages: children did not cause the addiction, cannot control it and cannot cure it, but can care for themselves, communicate feelings, make healthy choices and celebrate who they are. Created by Sesame Workshop, it is especially suited to early years and primary-aged children needing gentle addiction education and coping strategies.
